New Opera beta released (v.8)

Jon M · 23-12-2004, 10:26

In the interests of neutrality and goodwill, I thought I'd share this with those that persist in liking this browser. (I'm testing it myself in a minute, so I'll let you know what I think and whether it's a big step up from v.7)

ftp://ftp.opera.com/pub/opera/win/80...2enen800b1.exe

^^ direct download

or

http://www.opera.com (in the download section, click on the "beta" link)

Jon M · 23-12-2004, 10:36

Initial impression is fairly positive... it's quicker than previous versions.. page rendering is still about 50% slower than FF though.
You can choose graphic or google text ads.. which are better, but still you've got ads all the same.

Other than that, the GUI is more or less unchanged.

**Chris** · 23-12-2004, 10:46

Mornin' Jon .... talking to yourself is not generally considered a positive sign.

FWIW I won't be trying out Opera. I'm deliriously happy with FF, so I don't see much point ...

Jon M · 23-12-2004, 10:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris T

FWIW I won't be trying out Opera. I'm deliriously happy with FF, so I don't see much point ...

You're not interested in testing purely to make your slating of it in comparison to FF more informed?

Stuart · 23-12-2004, 10:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by s1lv3r

Initial impression is fairly positive... it's quicker than previous versions.. page rendering is still about 50% slower than FF though.

I haven't tried Opera 8 on my home system, but I have found previous versions to be considerably faster than Firefox (including V. 1) on that.

And. TBH, on the Mac, I find Safari to be a far better browser than either Opera or Firefox.

**Chris** · 23-12-2004, 10:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by s1lv3r

You're not interested in testing purely to make your slating of it in comparison to FF more informed?

ahem .... while I think you won't have much trouble finding instances where our resident Opera evangelist (hi Basa

) has given FF a good kicking, I don't recall responding in kind. Except, perhaps, to voice reservations about it having ads you pay to get rid of, and possibly posting links to other people's opinions about it ... I'll get me coat.

OinkyBoinky · 23-12-2004, 14:12

hmmm.. will downlaod that now... been using opera for about 5 years now... Started using it when i was 12 and never looked back...

basa · 24-12-2004, 09:54

Opera 8.0 is really only another preview version of 7.6. I dunno why Opera decided to call it 8.0 ?

Nevertheless I still consider Opera a superior product to FF despite its horrendous cost of ÃƒÆ’Ã†â€™ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã…Â¡ÃƒÆ’Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â£25. I just can't get my head round a download of 4.7 MB for a basic browser with no enhancements compared to Opera's 3.4MB with all features fully functional. Add to that the requirement to download further 'extensions' to make it work as Opera does as standard, plus the built in mail client.

I could never get FF extensions to work and was unsure about downloading stuff written by FF enthusiasts rather than Mozilla employees. Who checks for bugs and compatibility with other 'extensions' ?

Ah well, seems you can fool most of the people most of the time !!

This is a screen grab of my Opera UI - pretty and plenty of real estate ! Most functions are mouse gestures or appear only when required.

ikthius · 24-12-2004, 10:24

I have just downloaded, this opera browser, although it seems slightly faster than Firefox, however, it does not render some sites, correctly, i.e. <font size="normal"> the browser shows extremely small text, but if the text is in a table, it is fine????

I don't think the browser is all that great, I will stick to Firefox, and leave opera for testing with.

ik